VC VOX POP | “Which Teachers Were Your Greatest Influences Growing Up?” [Q&A]

The Violin Channel recently caught up with 30+ of the world’s top string players to find out …

“Which teachers were your greatest influences growing up?”

The Violin Channel recently caught up with 30+ of the world’s top string players to find out …

German-American Violinist, David Garrett:

"Zakhar Bron, Ida Haendel, Itzhak Perlman all had a different influence on me ... but always a very positive one ... Zakhar Bron was important for establishing a good technique and technical base ... Ida was very much about making music ... and Itzhak Perlman was a mixture of both"

French Cello Soloist, Gautier Capuçon:

"All of them for different reasons ... Augustin Lefevre, Annie Cochet, Philippe Muller and Heinrich Schiff"

German Violin Virtuoso, Julia Fischer:

“Certainly Ana Chumachenco ... I studied more than 15 years with her"

German-Canadian Cellist, Johannes Moser:

“David Geringas, my parents, and all the musical giants I never got to hear live: Shafran, Furnier, Tortelier, Miles Davis, Pavarotti...” 

Canadian Violin Soloist, James Ehnes:

“My father, my teachers Francis Chaplin and Sally Thomas ... and my pianist/teacher/coach Donald Henry“

Korean-American Violin Superstar, Sarah Chang:

“Isaac Stern ... Hands down!“ [PICTURED]

Georgian Violin Virtuoso, Lisa Batiashvili:

“Ana Chumachenco”

Canadian Cellist, Amanda Forsyth:

“William Pleeth was my major teacher when I was in my early teens ... and will remain my major influence ... till I went to study with Harvey Shapiro“

Russian Violin Virtuoso, Ilya Kaler:

“My father ... also my unofficial violin guru Abram Shtern ... I also learned a lot from listening to the recordings of old masters”

Dutch Violinist, Rudolf Koelman:

“All of my 3 teachers ... Jan Bor, Herman Krebbers and Jascha Heifetz”

Australian VC Artist Violinist, Ray Chen:

"These days I find myself constantly rethinking things my former teacher Aaron Rosand would say ... it's been 7 years since I've graduated from school, but every week he still makes me feel like I'm a new student"

VC Artist Violinist, Stefan Jackiw:

“Donald Weilerstein ... I studied with him for five years, when I was ages 17-22 ... he transformed me from a young violinist focused on beauty of execution to a musician seeking openness and vulnerability“

Mozarteum University Salzburg Pedagogue, Pierre Amoyal:

“Of course Jascha Heifetz  ... and also Gaston Poulet ... I learned the Debussy Sonata with him ... which he premiered with Debussy at the piano”

South Korean Violinist, Dong-Suk Kang:

“I must say that Ivan Galamian was the most important teacher I had for violin playing ... I also learned a lot about music from playing chamber music with people such as Felix Galimir“

VC Young Artist Violinist, Timothy Chooi:

"All of my teachers have influenced me in my life in many different aspects ... Ida Kavafian, Pamela Frank, Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec are my most recent professors and their influence on me are the freshest"

VC Young Artist Violinist, Ioana Cristina Goicea:

"My mother ... violinist Cristina Anghelescu ... winner of the 1991 Sibelius Competition .... Maestro Stefan Gheorghiu ... and of course all my previous and current teachers"

VC Artist Violinist, Igor Pikayzen:

"First and foremost, my grandfather of course ... but I'd like to think I took something valuable from every person I every played for ... including colleagues and peers"

German Violinist and Kronberg Academy Artistic Director, Friedemann Eichhorn:

"Alberto Lysy, Margaret Pardee and Valery Gradow ... apart from this, the playing of the violinists that I listened to all the time as a teenager: Menuhin, Perlman, Kremer, and later on, Gitlis"

VC Young Artist Violinist, Stephen Waarts:

"I studied with quite a few teachers longterm, but in addition, some people I only worked with briefly also led to great inspiration ... so hard to name a few ... I'd say Li Lin, Alexander Barantschik, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Aaron Rosand and Mihaela Martin"

VC Artist Violinist, Benjamin Beilman:

"Almita and Roland Vamos were my most influential teachers prior to conservatory ... Mr. Vamos focused on technique and score study while Mrs. Vamos helped develop intuition and passion in each player"

New England Conservatory Cello Pedagogue, Laurence Lesser:

"My greatest influence was Piatigorsky ... but master classes with Casals were very important and leave wonderful strong memories"

Berlin Philharmonic Concertmaster, VC Artist Noah Bendix-Balgley:

"I was very lucky to have wonderful teachers ... the greatest influence on me was my professor in Bloomington, Mauricio Fuks ... who I studied with starting at age 13 and who I still look to as a mentor"

American Violinist, Rachel Barton Pine:

"Almita and Roland Vamos are two of my most important mentors ... I learned so much from them about interpretation, sound, technique, stage presence, and listening to your own musical instincts ... beyond violin playing, they advised me about how to handle a variety of tricky professional and social situations"

Japanese Violin Pedagogue & Former Tokyo String Quartet Violinist, Koichiro Harada: 

“Mr Saito ... and Mr Robert Mann”

Russian-born Austrian Violin Pedagogue, Boris Kuschnir:

“The greatest influence I received was from my teacher at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Prof Boris Belenky ... and also from David Oistrakh and Dmitri Shostakovich ... with whom I also studied”

Russian-American Violinist, Philippe Quint:

“Andrei Korsakov & Dorothy DeLay ... also those I did not study with but am very familiar with their methods: Leopold Auer and Carl Flesch ... and outside of music: Konstantin Stanislavsky and Stella Adler ... and even some memoirs of great athletes”

American Concert Violinist, Anne Akiko Meyers:

“All of them ... Shirley Helmick, Alice and Eleanore Schoenfeld, Josef Gingold, Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki and Felix Galimir ... they were all incredible”

Russian-German Violinist, Kirill Troussov:

“Yehudi Menuhin, Zakhar Bron and Christoph Poppen”

Portuguese-American Violinist, Elmar Oliveira:

“Raphael Bronstein ... my brother John ... Ariana Bronne and my colleagues”

Ukrainian-Israeli Violin Virtuoso, Vadim Gluzman:

“I was very lucky to have many wonderful teachers along the way ... my first teacher in Riga gave me a wonderful, healthy foundation ... 
Arkady Fomin brought me from almost quitting the violin all the way to the beginning of my concert career ... then Dorothy DeLay in New York was an incredible source of wisdom, 
motherly support and encouragement ... and then there was also Isaac Stern - every meeting with whom was nothing short of enlightenment"

Dallas Symphony Concertmaster, Alexander Kerr:

“As a violinist, my college professor, the amazing American violinist Aaron Rosand was certainly my most influential instructor and role model”

London Symphony Orchestra First Violinist “Queen of Bling”, Maxine Kwok-Adams:

“Roy Gillard for instilling the importance of scales ... and Belinda Bunt Broughton for imparting so many amazing tales of orchestral life”

Armenian-American Violinist & Pedagogue, Ida Kavafian:

“Oscar Shumsky ... hands down ... in chamber music, Felix Galimir"

VC Artist Cellist, Pablo Ferrández:

“Natalia Shakhovskaya and Frans Helmerson”

VC Young Artist Violinist, William Hagen:

“My teachers growing up were Natalie Reed, Deborah Moench, and Robert Lipsett ... all were absolutely incredible ... and I feel so lucky to have learned from them” 

VC Rising Star Violinist, Anne Luisa Kramb:

“Antje Weithaas and Maurizio Fuks”

VC Young Artist Violinist, Luke Hsu:

“Fredell Lack  ... if it was not for her, I wouldn't have the violin in my hand”

VC Artist Calidore String Quartet Cellist, Estelle Choi:

“My first teacher John Kadz. I started learning cello with him ... and studied with him for 13 years”